"I'm not a Bollywood actor" - Gautam Gambhir on people saying he doesn't smile
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) mentor Gautam Gambhir recently commented on people saying he doesn't smile enough. Explaining the reason, he suggested that nobody comes to the ground to see him smile, they all come to see his team win.
Gambhir argued that he wasn't from Bollywood or the entertainment field and that he was only going to be judged based on his team's performances.
Speaking about why he has an intense look most of the time, Gambhir said on Ravichandran Ashwin's YouTube channel:
"Sometimes when people talk about, you know, he doesn't smile, he doesn't laugh, he's always intense, he's always grumpy, he's always walking on the edge, he's always, he always has his game face on. People don't come to watch me smile. Unfortunately, people come to watch me win."
"That's the kind of profession we guys are in. I can't help it. I'm not in entertainment. I'm not a Bollywood actor, or I'm not a corporate. I'm a cricketer. I'm into performing art. My job is that I want to come back in a winning dressing room. And fortunately, unfortunately, a winning dressing room is a happy dressing room, is a winning dressing room." he added.
Gambhir emphasized that he doesn't want to please everyone. He highlighted how he is unperturbed by what is being said about him, as the people who are close to him know the kind of person he is, adding:
"People who know, me know the kind of person I am, and people who do not know me, can talk whatever they want to, it doesn't bother me one single bit. People who are connected with me, people who are close to me know the kind of person I am and I don't, see, I cannot please everyone in this country and I don't even intend to please everyone, I don't even want everyone to know me the kind of person I am. For me, people who matter to me, they should know the kind of person I am, the kind of thoughts I have, what kind of a human being, whether I'm emotional, whether sometimes I'm ruthless as well, but that's the kind of person I am."
Gambhir, who led KKR to two IPL titles during his captaincy tenure, was roped in by the franchise for a mentorship role ahead of the ongoing season. Kolkata finished as the table-toppers after the league stage, bagging 20 points.
"I cannot and I will never let anyone be alone in a fight"- Gautam Gambhir recalls Naveen ul-Haq's heated verbal exchange with Virat Kohli
Gautam Gambhir was the mentor for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the previous season of the IPL. He was involved in an on-field altercation with Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) Virat Kohli after the latter's spat with LSG pacer Naveen-ul-Haq.
Recalling the incident, Gambhir mentioned that he would never leave a player of his team alone in a fight. He opined that if he cannot stand up for his players, he shouldn't be sitting in that dugout.
"I cannot and I will never let anyone be alone in a fight. That's my job. If I'm mentoring, whether I'm playing, whether I'm captaining, that is the belief I've lived with and that is the belief I will always live with. If I cannot stand up for my players, if I cannot stand up for my teammates, I have no right to be sitting in that dressing room. I'd rather be at home, holidaying with my family, spending time with my little ones rather than being with my teammates. Because if I'm part of that dressing room, I'm not going to leave anyone alone," the 42-year-old said.
Elaborating on his nature and his obsession to win, Gambhir added:
"I have all the right to fight for myself, for my teammates, and do everything possible within the spirit of the game, to try and beat the opposition. And that is all I have learnt how to do. And I will do it till the last, probably till the last day of my life, if I'm involved with cricket. And there is nothing wrong. I don't understand when people say that, you know, he, he's too hard, he does, he plays a certain way. Yes, I play a certain way because it helps me perform to the best of my ability. I'm not breaking any rules. I want to be as aggressive as I can be. And what's wrong with that? That's my nature, that's my characteristic. Because for me, winning is an obsession. And I'm actually obsessed with winning."
KKR will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, May 21, in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2024.